Tuesday, April 29, 2014

MURFREESBORO — MTSU School of Music professor
Cedric Dent and his longtime colleagues in the multi-award-winning group Take 6
are adding another line to their resumes: members of the Gospel Music Hall of
Fame.

The
renowned a capella sextet, formed in 1980 while they attended college in
Alabama, will join the Gospel Music Association's top roster of honorees in a
special ceremony at Lipscomb University in Nashville Tuesday, April 29.

Dent,
who joined the MTSU faculty in 2005 and teaches courses in music theory,
history of black gospel music, vocal jazz ensemble and music industry, maintained
an active touring schedule with Take 6 until 2011, when he stepped down to
teach full-time.

Tonight's
induction ceremony is set to feature a special reunion of Take 6, which now
includes two other members who replaced Dent and one of the founders. The
celebration will be streamed live online beginning at 7 p.m. Central at http://www.stagehop.com/event/20140429-gmahonors.

“Take
6 laid the foundation for what has become the norm for professional and collegiate
vocal jazz ensembles today,” Dent says, referring to the popularity of
televised vocal competitions such as the a cappella show “The Sing-Off” and
singing-driven comedies and dramas like “Glee” and “Smash.”

“Being
innovators in the field is one of the accomplishments of which I'm most proud.”

The
group’s resounding harmonies, of which Dent’s rich baritone played an integral
part, were reason enough to garner attention for Take 6.

Dent
says the harmonies were only the start, however, pointing to the “big-band … chord
voicings, gospel music-inflected solos, a bass vocalist imitating upright and
electric bass riffs, and finger snaps keeping time in tunes employing a jazz
swing feel” that also mark a Take 6 performance.

Take
6 has released 18 albums so far, earning 12 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a
Soul Train Award and more for their work, along with the distinction as the
most Grammy-nominated vocal group in history.

Also
inducted into the 2013 class of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame with Take 6
will be:

·multi-award-winning producer, songwriter
and music leader Brown Bannister, who's worked for the last 30 years with top
artists like Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, CeCe Winans and Mercy Me.

·the Gaither Vocal Band, a gospel
quintet that emerged from a 1980s backstage singalong before a Bill Gaither
Trio concert that became an award-winning success on its own.

·the late singer/songwriter Rich
Mullins, whose song "Awesome God" has become a staple of countless
modern worship services.

Dent,
who earned a doctoral degree in music theory while making a living touring and
recording with Take 6, says the most enjoyable aspects of his career have been
the travel opportunities.

“I've
literally seen the world,” he says. “I've also met very interesting people. Take
6 has met and sang for five U.S. presidents and for Nelson Mandela while he was
president of South Africa. Another wonderful perk has been performing and
recording with some of the most talented people in the music business, from
Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder to Don Henley, David Foster, Bobby McFerrin,
Queen Latifah, Herbie Hancock and k.d. lang.”

He’s
been able to incorporate his life experiences into the classroom to help his
students prepare for their lives as professional musicians and teachers, too.

“When
parents and potential students express concern about making a living in the
field of music, I point to my experience with Take 6 as an example of what can
be accomplished,” Dent says. “I hasten to add, however, that students should
also be thinking of how to produce multiple streams of income. It is quite rare
for someone to make a living from one source or job the way my parents'
generation did. This is true in most industries today and even more critical in
the music industry.

“My
experience is a wonderful testament to this reality. … I made a comfortable
living from Take 6, guest lecturing, and as a college professor for several
years. And when I was ready to retire from Take 6 to pursue teaching and
research, I was able to make the transition based purely on my goals and dreams
and not because of financial limitations.”

He
also was able to incorporate his experience and training into his advanced
degrees, building on Take 6’s black religious quartet singing tradition to create
his doctoral dissertation, a popular MTSU course on the history of black gospel
music offered every fall, and an upcoming book.

The
Gospel Music Hall of Fame has been recognizing renowned members of the music
community since 1971, from its first inductees, G.T. "Pop" Speer of
the beloved Speer Family, and Jim "Pappy" Waits, the dean of the
gospel bass singers, to last year's inductees, which included the incomparable
Aretha Franklin and bluegrass ambassador Ricky Skaggs.

The
men of Take 6 won’t be resting on their latest laurel long. The group recently
established a scholarship for jazz studies majors with a vocal concentration in
MTSU’s School of Music.

“Working
with Take 6 has had a direct effect on my research and teaching,” Dent says. “I
hope that the publicity garnered from being inducted into the Gospel Music Hall
of Fame will draw attention to the ‘Take 6 Vocal Jazz Scholarship Fund’ as well
as my research in the field of gospel music.”